Former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford dies after battle with cancer

Rob Ford, the former mayor of Toronto, has died at age 46 after a battle with cancer, the Associated Press reports, citing his family.

Ford's death ends an 18-month struggle with pleomorphic liposarcoma, a rare form of soft-tissue cancer, according to The Globe and Mail.

Ford gained notoriety in 2013 after a video surfaced of his using crack cocaine while he was still the mayor.

After repeatedly denying any drug problems, Ford publicly acknowledged his addiction after some time in rehab.

Ford didn't pledge to stay drug-free. In 2014, he told the radio station Newstalk 1010 that he wouldn't make any promises about something over which he had "no control," according to The Huffington Post.

Ford learned he had cancer in September 2014, during an intense mayoral reelection battle. Though he eventually bowed out of the race, Ford still won a seat on Toronto's city council, which he held until his death.

Ford was declared cancer-free last year and appeared at campaign events for former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The cancer returned in October, however, and Ford underwent successive rounds of chemotherapy that were ultimately unsuccessful, The Globe and Mail reports.

He was admitted to a hospital last week and was receiving palliative care as of Monday, his family said, per CBC.

Ford's family released a statement announcing his death on Tuesday morning. Ford's chief of staff, Dan Jacobs, also confirmed his death to CNN.

'Ford Nation'

Ford was first elected to Toronto's city council in 2000 after leaving his family business. After two terms representing Etobicoke's Ward 2, the populist, right-wing councilmen was elected mayor in 2010.

He was ushered into office by his supporters, who were dubbed "Ford Nation" by the media.

Ford tapped into the populist resentment of the suburban areas of the city, where people felt that elite voters from the urban core had long dominated politics. David Miller — the mayor who served two terms before Ford — was perceived by many suburbanites as favoring the downtown core's interests.

Ford during an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live." ABC/Hulu

The greater Toronto area — the downtown core and surrounding suburban districts including Ford's ward in Etobicoke — was amalgamated in 1998.

Ford's tumultuous tenure as mayor was marked by aggressive cost-cutting, and he killed multiple proposals to expand transit throughout the city.

His reign over the city of Toronto suffered multiple scandals, including the crack-cocaine incident, as well as insinuations of sexism, alcoholism, and criminal ties.